


for forever.

by sensesonfire



Series: ya'aburnee; [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Bruce Wayne is Trying I Swear, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Married Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Matt McGinnis is Mentioned, Meet the Family, Minor Dick Grayson/Wally West
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23584252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensesonfire/pseuds/sensesonfire
Summary: It takes a meeting with Jason’s extended, kind of dysfunctional family for Kyle to appreciate his own. And for him to learn to not take anyone for granted as some certain Wayne family tends to do.
Relationships: Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd
Series: ya'aburnee; [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695100
Comments: 29
Kudos: 75





	1. i will gladly join the fight.

**Author's Note:**

> sooooooooo this here will have 5 parts in total and it will be a whole mess because the batfam is a mess. other tags are going to be added, and other characters and relationships too (also ratings? probably? it'll all depend on which path i'll choose). the first chapter is just jason and kyle talking basically?
> 
> you know the drill, havent betaread, so any mistakes tell me plsss
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Kyle was _fidgeting._ Which was totally stupid, he has already met the one who mattered most to Jason, so it should not be a problem to meet his father. Or it is, because fuck, Bruce Wayne can be terrifying at times – from the several moments he called Jason and they had a screaming match through the phone, Kyle knew what was in store for him. He would take a dinner with Talia and Damian any time, it would be better than deal with Bruce, he is sure of it, even if Damian is as fierce to give Kyle hell, being the overprotective little brother.

As he struggled with the tie of his suit, Jason sighed from the door of their bedroom. Kyle looked at his stunning boyfriend sporting a formal attire with a leather jacket instead of a blazer – and Kyle is sure Alfred is going to have a heart attack from that –, and from the mirror in front of him they locked gazes, arching one inquiring eyebrow that Jason caught with his sea-blue eyes. He smiled, already tired way before the dinner with the Wayne family.

“It was Dick on the phone,” he explained with said phone in hand, throwing himself on the bed. Kyle took it as a sign to sit beside him. “He said Terrence will be on the dinner with us.”

Kyle tilted his head a little, squinting at Jason. “Who is Terrence?” and at that, Jason groaned, burying his hands on his face.

“My brother. He’s a teenager, apparently, and…” he roamed his own hands through his hair, messing it up a little. Kyle stopped him before he could cause any more damage. Jason smiled at him appreciatively.

“What’s the problem with having a teenager brother, though?” and Jason stared at him incredulously, a “what? It can’t be that bad, you deal with Damian daily,” being muttered by a concerned Kyle.

“It’s just—they haven’t told me anything before. He’s sixteen, Kyle, and he’s already taken away my title of problematic child,” Jason scoffed, “he’s like, B’s biological son that he never knew about. He had a fling with Terrence’s mother way before B and T met. Terrence’s mother never told B about him.” He swallowed dryly, a glint on his eyes that Kyle could not decipher what it should mean. “Then… she died, he had to deal with his abusive stepfather daily, and things went south for him,” Kyle squeezed Jason’s hand. They shared a knowing glance. “He… went to juvie, Kyle. He grew around a very bad crowd and that’s how Bruce found him,” he massaged his temples, exhaling out. Kyle’s other hand came to rest on his back, rubbing soothingly there.

“But isn’t he okay now? Isn’t Bruce taking care of him?” Kyle coaxed, letting his voice be all soft and concerned for he knew Jason needed it right now.

Jason started shaking his head, “B _is_ taking care of him, at least he’s trying to. But Dick said things are bad, they argue more than I argue with Bruce,” then suddenly Jason snorted without any mirth, “fuck, there’s also like Matthew, he’s Terrence’s little brother I think? And Terrence couldn’t leave his brother with their shitty stepfather. I mean, he’s actually Matthew’s dad, but Dick said that the prick didn’t give two fucks about what B was about to do with them. And seems like it’s been barely one week since Terrence went out of juvie,” he shook his head again. “That family is messier than I thought, Jesus fucking _Christ_ ,” Jason stood up, pulling Kyle with him.

Kyle wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck, leaving a brief peck against his lips. “So, what’s the plan? You wanna ditch?” he asked without any intent, putting on his tone the implied _I’m game whatever you want to do_.

Jason fiercely denied. “No, I…” he pursed his lips, deep in thought, “I actually want to meet him. What he’s going through kinda… hits close to home.” Kyle complied, hugging him with some strength, letting Jason bury his face against the crook of his neck. “We’re gonna have to meet Dick and Tim before going, though,” his boyfriend muffled faintly against his shoulder and he suppressed a laugh.

“Well, I suppose it can’t be worse than meeting Bruce. I mean, they’re your brothers,” but Kyle was already overwhelmed over the fact that he needed to meet two of Jason’s brothers so out of nowhere, and Jason had the audacity to _chuckle_ , full of sarcastic undertones in that.

“Wait ‘til you meet big D,” he rolled his eyes, pulling away from Kyle and dragging him with both of his hands.

“Wait, what does it even _mean?_ ” Kyle was borderline hysteric at this point. Jason, the bastard, barked a loud laugh and did not answer.


	2. tomorrow there'll be more of us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dick and tim make an entrance!!! it gets kinda messy though, things escalate a little...
> 
> havent betaread, its like 3am here and i shouldnt be writing at this ungodly hour but quarantine fucked up my sleeping schedule anyway
> 
> hope you enjoy!

They reached the small coffee shop on the outskirts of Gotham at around five in the afternoon, making Kyle feel slightly jittery as the dinner would be held in three hours from now. He just really hoped that Jason’s brothers would be nice to him and that things would go smoothly – though by the way Jason gripped the steering wheel and gritted his teeth throughout the way there, Kyle supplied his mind to not be too judging and keep his cool if things crashed and burned.

As it seemed, the couple was the first to arrive. Jason actually snorted at that. They sat at a table on the corner to avoid attention being caught to them since the Wayne family was famous around here – except for Jason, who did not care to appear on charity galas or to make acquaintances with the media just like his siblings tend to do. Kyle was sure, however, that people would totally recognize Dick Grayson-Wayne. He was a retired gymnastic artist, currently trainer of one of the most promising athletes of the country, he also has some Olympics medals to show around often. And Kyle does not even want to start thinking about Tim Drake-Wayne, current CEO of Wayne Tech at the age of twenty-one. It was too overwhelming to be around people like these, so he really hopes they are at least friendly and not snobby just like some assholes from his own family.

“I ordered you some coffee, since you didn’t answer when I asked what you wanted, and we’re still going to eat dinner after this,” Jason’s voice cut off his train of thought, and he stared at his boyfriend, noticing the concern in his eyes, “is everything alright?” he asked softly.

Kyle answered with a small smile and a nod, taking Jason’s hand on his own and squeezing it in what he hoped was a reassuring way. Something flashed on Jason’s eyes, but Kyle was too stressed out to try to figure it out. Plus, a sound of chatter and laugh caught their attention. Kyle’s breath caught on his throat as he stared at Dick and Tim sitting down in front of him and Jason.

“Hello, little wing! We missed ya,” Dick _beamed_ at Jason, the latter grimaced at the nickname.

Tim rolled his eyes playfully and looked at Kyle apologetically. “Hey, you must be Kyle. I’m Tim,” and he extended his hand across the table to shake Kyle’s hand. He complied, taking notice of Tim’s firm grip. They shared a brief smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Kyle held back a snort when he heard Jason’s scoff. “It’s nice to meet you too,” when they dropped their hands, Dick quickly caught Kyle’s own, which spurred confusion in him.

Dick grinned at him brightly, “and I’m Dick, sir,” then proceeded to kiss Kyle’s hand like they were in the ninth century, and he was a Victorian lady.

“Uh…” Kyle said eloquently, staring at Jason when his hand was dropped again. His boyfriend rolled his eyes, mouthing _show-off_ and Kyle pursed his lips to not laugh.

They were certainly strong characters, but Kyle relaxed more when Dick gasped and told Jason that his husband, Wally, would be attending the dinner with them which made Jason retort with a _why the fuck do I care_ that made everyone at the table laugh, except for Dick who huffed indignantly. After that, the four of them fell into small chatter and playful conversations, mostly Dick bringing up embarrassing childhood stories from Jason that even Tim did not know about since he was not around at the time, and it was peaceful. Kyle felt himself growing fond of Jason’s brothers.

By the time they finished their orders – Jason asked for tea, he ordered coffee for Kyle and Tim ordered the same, Dick demanded something overly complicated that Kyle felt sorry for the attendant taking it –, the topics changed to a more serious issue, specifically what he and Jason discussed earlier that night.

“So, Jason, as Dick has already told you, Terry’s a complicated shift in our lives, and he’s going to be at the dinner today since Selina insisted,” Tim explained, ignoring the furrow in Jason’s eyebrows and Kyle himself was puzzled at why was that. “You know the basics that Dick told you, Bruce dated Mary, Terry’s mother, way before he, uh, dated… Talia,” Kyle felt how the atmosphere in the table suddenly shifted. Both Dick and Jason’s expressions closed off completely as they stared at each other, which made Kyle disconcerted to be in such a place since he did not know what was the problem. Tim cleaned his throat, tone cautious as he continued, “he’s a very charismatic kid, though, even with all the issues on board, but I honestly blame that on Warren, Terry’s asshole stepfather. Terry’s great, so is Matt. You’re going to like them both,” Tim assured with a small smile, Jason reciprocated the gesture.

“But, um, Jason said that Terry and Bruce don’t get along well,” Kyle provided, his concern over how the night would go with two people – said people being Jason _and_ Terry –, who did not get along with the patriarch of the house, clear.

“Well, we’re all trying to get closer to Terry—so far, Tim’s the most successful,” Dick provided, a tired gaze falling upon his blue eyes.

Jason scoffed, Kyle quietly scolded him and he ignored. “And why is that? Are you afraid of your own brother?” the tone was accusatory. Kyle exchanged a glance with Tim, both of them recognizing that this would not end well.

Dick sighed. “It’s not that! It’s just… Terry is too _much_.”

“How?” the sarcastic demeanor fell down to give way to a confused one to Jason, Kyle almost exhaled out of relief.

“I mean. I’m totally not doing my best at dealing with a delinquent—” _Almost_.

Tim hissed. Kyle held his breath.

“Oh, I see,” Jason chuckled, full of venom. “So way back in the years when we still lived together you treated me as a _delinquent_ , then?”

“Oh fuck, I can’t believe this!” Dick laughed mirthlessly, “Jason, this isn’t about you!”

“I know it isn’t, I’m just fucking _asking_ , Richard.” He retorted intensely, staring daggers at his oldest brother.

“Then stop making it about you!” Dick pointed a finger in Jason’s general direction, face contorted with fury.

“You don’t have to be a dick about it—”

Dick groaned. “You’re not making any sense—”

Tim decided it was best to intervene. “Can the both of you stop with this—” But he was unsuccessful as his brothers’ argument grew louder and louder.

Kyle, utterly shocked at how things escalated so suddenly, just stood up, not caring if it seemed dramatic, and walked away from where they were – they were _so_ immersed in their clash that they did not notice he left. Thoughts started floating around as he made his way to Jason’s car, such as if it was bad with Dick, then it would be worse with _Bruce_ and a new addition to the discussion. Kyle scratched at his eyes with the heels of his palms, feeling exhausted and the dinner did not even begin. He took his phone out to know what time is it—and they still had about an hour to get to what Jason said earlier was Hell on Earth. Kyle was starting to believe him.

He leaned over the car, resting his body against it. It did not take long for him to see Jason storming off the shop and strut his way to Kyle. Dick was screaming profanities at Jason – who flipped him off –, while Tim dragged him the other way. When Jason got closer, Kyle could see the redness on the corners of his boyfriend’s eyes, so he put his hands on Jason’s cheeks to inspect it further.

“What happened?” he inquired softly, caressing Jason’s face in hopes to calm him down a little – he was too shaken to properly talk.

Jason sighed. “He’s a fucking—” and did not finish the sentence, closing his eyes, resting his forehead against Kyle’s who just let him be. They stayed like this for a while, Jason just breathing to appease his nerves and Kyle there to anchor him. After a beat, Jason pulled back, “we still need to get to Hell. Now more than ever,” and Kyle just nodded.

He did not ask any further as Jason seemed to not be open up for debate or questions right now, instead just entering the car with his boyfriend and putting a hand above his, making sure Kyle was there for him whenever he needed and would always be.

Jason smiled at him, sad and small. Kyle did not have _any_ good feelings about that.


	3. raise a glass to freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS IM SO SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU HANGING i had a writers block and then when i could finally write my internet started to bullshit me, i'm still on thin ice scared out of my fucking mind that it'll start to get weird again and i cant post it
> 
> i'm just gonna say that... its been long since ive last watched batman beyond and i have no fucking clue how to write terry, so sorry in advance if he is ooc?
> 
> i dont have anything else to say, just that i didnt betaread it, tried to scan for mistakes as best as i could but im tired as fuck because thats the longest chapter ive written in a long time so something couldve slipped, pls tell me so if you see anything
> 
> hope u enjoy and i'm sorry again!

They parked right outside of the manor. Kyle felt slightly intimidated by its size, the fact that the people inside were ready to judge him and decide if he was worthy of dating Jason just added to the weight on his shoulders. His hands were shaking, he tried to compose himself and remember his mother’s words, _break a leg!,_ and how happy and proud she was that he was giving Jason’s other part of the family a chance. The prospect of him eventually breaking someone’s leg quite in the literal sense is terrifyingly real, especially after what he saw at the coffee shop.

He felt Jason staring at him, but he said nothing. The pair stayed inside the car for a few good minutes, until they decided it would not benefit either of them to stall too long. Kyle swallowed a lump, reminding himself of Jason and Dick’s argument of earlier. He would probably break Dick’s leg if the occasion asked, he is sure of that. He _hated_ the way Dick talked about Jason and Kyle promised himself that he would beat the shit out of him, being Jason’s older brother or not, if it meant standing up for his boyfriend.

“You ready?” Jason simply asked, voice hoarse from not talking the whole way after probably shouting his lungs out in his argument with Dick.

Kyle exhaled the lump trying to form on his throat, nodding weakly, “ready as I’ll ever be,” and that earned a chuckle from Jason. He counted that as a small victory.

At some point Jason has taken Kyle’s hand in his when they got out of the car. Kyle wanted to bolt, tell Jason he was not ready, that they could do this any other day but not _now_. He was afraid he was going to start an argument with the whole Wayne clan in order to protect Jason.

Kyle dared to look at his boyfriend from his peripheral, clenching his jaw but still trying to keep his cool. This was being hard for Jason too, he knew that, this is why he needed to stay by Jason’s side.

He could do it. He promised Jason he would try. They shared a tight smile and walked the steps to the front of the Wayne household.

The first person Kyle met after Dick and Tim was Alfred, and he was very relieved at that. Alfred was kind enough to not address anything related to the clear panic stamped on Kyle’s face and the shaking of his hands when he handled his outer layers of clothes to Alfred, simply stating that it was good to finally meet him. The three of them made small conversation on the front porch, while Jason and Kyle started to take off their street shoes to put on house ones to get inside – and really, Kyle found it so odd he almost asked why it was a necessary thing to do, deciding against it when Jason did not even blink when asked to change shoes. Alfred reprimanded Jason for using a jacket instead of formal wear, the use of _Master Jason_ weirding Kyle out a deal lot. Neither of them mentioned it while Jason snickered at Alfred for chastising him when it would do no good after all, so he just assumed it was some kind of “old habits die hard” thing.

Alfred walked them to the grand living room, fortunately empty, and told them to be comfortable while he was going to fetch the others to reunite at the dining room and start the event. Kyle thanked Alfred out loud and Jason just hummed some response in return. They sat at one of the big, fancy sofas and he felt greatly uncomfortable with the surroundings all of a sudden, even more than he already was before, throwing Alfred’s suggestion out of the fucking window. What was he thinking, coming to a place like this to meet a portion of Jason’s family that he hated? He had already met Talia, and she approved of Kyle a deal lot, Damian seemed to tolerate him and that should be _enough_. Their opinions mattered to Jason more than Bruce’s, so why was it happening? They are madly rich, what if they are elitists too? What if they look at Kyle and deem him unworthy of Jason just because he does not have the same amount of money, just because he is an Arts student and they think it does not make enough money for a living just like his excuse of a father tells him all the time? What if they absolutely _despise_ Kyle? Oh shit, he is spiraling­—

Jason’s hand found its way to Kyle’s cheekbone, sensing his nerves, caressing it fondly, completely interrupting Kyle’s train wreck of thoughts. He starts breathing again when he did not even notice he stopped for starters. “Relax the fuck down, Rayner. They’re gonna love you,” Jason assured with a smirk, though his expression was clear with concern. Fuck, Kyle did not want him to worry because of him, Jason did not need that right now.

Kyle nodded and forced a smile. “I know, it’s just—” he sighed, “things with your brother were so messy, I’m just worried about… _you_ ,” and he let his eyebrows furrow because sure, it was a half-truth, but it was still a concern of Kyle. He stared at Jason and watched as his boyfriend’s face changed to a more serious one.

As he was about to say something to either appease Kyle or shut him down because he was being overly dramatic, someone behind them coughed as a way to interrupt whatever was about to go on. They looked at the person. Kyle was surprised to see it was Tim with a girl right by his side and they were quite… similar, in some way. The form she stood tall and the glint of kindness in her eyes were a thing they both held, plus there were several physical characteristics that contrasted between them that made Kyle wonder if they are twins. If she is anything like Tim, he already likes her.

Tim offered a gentle smile to Kyle, being the one sibling who seemed to understand how to be the big person. He pointed to the girl by his side while still holding eye contact with Kyle, “this is Cassandra, she was ecstatic to meet you before… y’know,” he trailed off awkwardly, but Kyle understood as realization dawned upon him for who the girl was.

He stood up to meet the infamous Cassandra Cain-Wayne, the one sibling Jason said that all of them loved a whole lot – she was everyone’s favorite and it was common knowledge to admit that, no hard feelings in-between, just the facts. She was also quite a famous ballet performer, his mother talked about her often and she even went to some of Cassandra’s concerts. Kyle extended one hand to shake hers, but she smiled at him in a way he could not decipher what emotion she was trying to convey, when unexpectedly, she was wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly close to her.

Kyle gasped in surprise, almost reluctantly retrieving the affection. He stared at Tim with wide eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening at the moment. Tim chuckled, shrugging like he did not know either, and Kyle could hear Jason snickering behind him. His face felt hot in an instant, and even when Cassandra released him, fixing Kyle with a brilliant grin of her own, he felt helpless.

“Hi,” she said quietly, getting out of his personal space and returning to Tim’s side, grabbing his arm sheepishly, still totally unaware of her effects.

Kyle smiled and nodded in return, surprised that she talked—well, it was a rude assumption, just because he often saw Cassandra using sign language with the media did not mean she was deaf or mute or anything like that. He tried to remember anything that Jason mentioned to him about her other than the fact that she was the best sister in the whole goddamn world. Coming up empty, Kyle eyed Jason in a desperate way, receiving a wink that did not tell him shit in response.

However, Tim seemed to read Kyle’s mind, for he supplied with, “she’s partially deaf, about sixty percent, but she knows what you want to tell her just fine,” he looked at his sister and she arched one eyebrow in return. He scoffed, “she’s more comfortable using sign language, she says she expresses herself better this way,” then everything made sense. If Kyle was being honest, if he knew ASL, he would use it all the time too—he is always shit when it comes to expressing his feelings through talks, he always says the wrong thing and cannot take it back afterwards. He is lucky Jason is the same way, so they have a deal about trying harder while still not pressuring the other.

He just nodded, acknowledging the information provided. Cassandra kept staring at him like he was holding some huge secret – and really, he was totally _not_ , he was just uneasy to be in an environment he was not used to. He searched for Jason’s hands, interlocking their fingers together. Jason squeezed briefly to reassure him, talking to Tim and Cassandra to try to steer the attention off Kyle, for which he was grateful.

Kyle paid attention to what was being talked about, even if he was very not eager to supply any insight about the matter, especially it being about the new addition to the family, _Terry_. Something about talking of Terry without his awareness gives Kyle a kind of bad feeling, like it is something wrong to be doing even if they are not saying anything harmful about the teen.

Still, he was mildly grateful when Alfred demanded their presence in the dining room for everyone was ready to start to eat. But just mildly, because Kyle reminded himself the reason he was here in the first place, and not even Jason’s hand rubbing circles against the small of his back were comforting enough.

He hoped the night would not be so dreadful—even if his gut feeling kept telling him the contrary.

The silence and the pure tension residing the table made Kyle’s nerves skyrocket. He did a very brief eye-contact with Bruce Wayne and averted his gaze elsewhere, to Dick specifically and Wally, they were snickering about something funny Wally told Dick in secret. Kyle wished Wally said that out loud to at least cut the stiff mood surrounding them. He kept his mouth busy, munching the food Alfred made – a fancy menu Kyle did not bother to ask what it was, just kept eating instead to avoid any awkward remarks, it being good was enough.

Bruce suddenly cleared his throat and looked pointedly at someone by the end of the table, right by Tim’s side. Kyle dared to stare too, seeing that it was Terry, currently playing around with the pieces of vegetables around his plate and not bothering to eat or to unmask his expression of boredom.

Bruce was going to try again, growing impatient by the second, when Selina chimed in on his left. They shared a look, like they were speaking without words. Bruce nodded and she smiled.

“Terrence,” she addressed the teenager, and he pointedly ignored her. The twitch on his fingers gave him away. Selina plastered a smile, fatigued yet there, “ _Terry_ , you haven’t met Jason.”

Jason looked up from his plate and gawked at Selina. “Uh. It’s… fine. Don’t pressure him,” and he looked at Kyle with an arching eyebrow, speaking _what the fuck’s going on?_ and Kyle just sighed. This was going to be a disaster.

Selina gave a sad smile to Jason, complying to what he asked her and dropping the subject. But Bruce was a persistent one, not taking the hint, his grave voice ricocheted within the walls of the room as he called out, “ _Terrence,_ ” and looked at his direction.

Kyle could see as Terry dropped his fork loudly and the way Tim jumped at the sound, turning around to see Bruce, hissing, “ _what_ ,” staring daggers at his father.

Everyone kept watching them as they battled on with their gazes, until Bruce was the first one to relent. “Meet Jason, your brother, and Kyle,” he pointed with his chin towards the ones he mentioned, and they caught Terry’s eyes.

Kyle gripped at Jason’s thigh from under the table, offering Terry a small smile, while Jason provided a brief nod. That seemed to calm Terry down enough, he just blinked and nodded too, defensive stance faltering for a small fraction until he went back to pick up his fork and play with his food once again.

Dick, thankfully, took that as his cue to divert the situation and started sharing tales of him and Wally, who chimed in comfortably at times to compliment Dick’s description of the things they did at their honeymoon, where they visited, the sights and their plans to travel more. Kyle just listened, refusing to talk and make himself as unseen as possible, make everyone forget completely that he was here.

When Dick ran out of things to say, Selina commented that she wanted Jason to meet Matt since the boy was eager to know his other older brother, but he was at a friend’s house at the moment for an important school project and could not attend the meeting. The unspoken words of _and it’s also best if a child isn’t here to watch as this dinner ends up a with carnage_ clear, at least to Kyle.

Then the worst thing that could happen today started to unravel. Bruce focused his stormy blue eyes on Kyle and talked to him, _directly_.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Kyle. We’ve been all waiting for this for quite a long time, honestly,” he said all that staring at Kyle _and_ cutting the meat with his fork and knife.

Kyle, smiled nervously in return, gripping tightly at his cutlery to hide his shaking hands. “Yeah, it took long for us to meet...” he almost sighed out of relief when Bruce changed his attention back to his plate.

He actually scoffed and Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. _What?_ “Well, can you blame me? I haven’t been on good terms with Jason lately, that’s why,” and Bruce kept eating casually.

Jason clearly stiffened by the comment, standing to his full height on his chair, tense. “What do you mean?” and Kyle could sense how careful Jason was being with his tone. He held Jason’s thigh with more force this time to ground him.

Selina sighed and said, in a warning tone, “ _Bruce_.”

But he completely ignored her, spitting nonchalantly, “you have been seven years out of contact with your family because you were too busy with _Talia_ ,” he uttered the name with so much venom Kyle felt angry on her behalf, when she was not even here to defender herself.

That was the last straw for Jason as well as he gritted his teeth. “Don’t say shit about T, you _fucking_ —”

Tim desperately cut Jason out, trying to maintain the order by raising his voice, “we don’t need to do this in front of—”

At the same time that Dick tried to also calm Bruce down, “c’mon, B, stop doing—”

However, yet again, Bruce’s voice reverberated louder than of his children as he now stared fully at Jason. “ _And_ now we have to deal with a new _peculiar_ addition to the family, one you didn’t even know about because you clearly don’t seem to care enough.”

Jason dropped the silverware and scoffed without mirth, “What the—”

He was interrupted one more time, but by Terry who slammed his fists against the table and _snarled_. “Are you talking about me, Bruce? Because if you are, then say it to my fucking face.”

Kyle was at a loss. Hell started to break loose out of fucking nowhere and he did not know where to look. He just watched as everyone’s attention got back to Terry and Kyle saw _right through him_. This kid—Gods, how was Kyle so fucking _blind_ to not see it before?

Selina tried mitigate the chaos that ensued, unaware of the real emotions tethering off Terry in waves, directing herself to the teenager with a kind voice, like someone trying to tame a beast. “Terry, dear, you shouldn’t—”

“I shouldn’t _what_?” the way he snapped his head towards her, viciously, gave Kyle quite a shock.

“ _Terrence_ ,” Bruce warned.

“It’s okay, Bruce, I can handle it,” Selina put her hand on his arm to shut him down, her expression now all business and a no-bullshit stance. “Terrence, I demand respect in this house as—”

Terry stood up from his seat and shouted at her, “shut the fuck up, Selina! Stop trying to be my mom, you’re _not_ my mom!” and then stormed off.

Kyle was flabbergasted. The way tears were prickling against the corners of Terry’s eyes and the look of _abandonment_ on them terrified Kyle out of his mind—what was actually happening here and why can no one see that this _child_ is _hurting_?

Dead air takes over the dinner, worse than it was at the beginning. Kyle just wants to go home.

Before he can suggest Jason to leave, Tim scoffs, throwing his napkin on the table forcefully, “I’m done.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Bruce asks tiredly, rubbing at his temples.

“To Conner’s. Don’t expect me to come back any time soon. Tell Alfred I’m sorry,” and after that he just departs, not biding anyone else a goodbye. Kyle cannot really blame him.

Then Cassandra takes her cue to leave too, Bruce stares at her, she simply says, “Barbara,” and nothing else.

The remaining ones at the table stare at each other awkwardly. Selina says she is tired. She seems like she wants to say something else, eyes sad, but she only sighs for the hundredth time this night and leaves. Bruce does not go after her even though he should.

Bruce, Dick and Jason start to argue right after that, this time Jason started it by accusing Bruce of being a _prick_ and then Dick snorted, agreeing with Jason while also saying that he is actually a hypocrite for saying that. Wally tries to appease the situation with Alfred, who came back from the kitchen after hearing all of the commotion, though their efforts are useless.

Kyle stands up abruptly, clearly upset. They all stop to stare at him. His blood is boiling, he cannot believe such a _heinous_ night, how everything crashed down and burned so quickly.

“Bruce,” he starts, fuming, _furious,_ “you have no fucking right to say _shit_ about Talia. She’s an amazing mother and she raised Jason _very_ well,” he turns to Dick, who is staring at him in surprise, “and _Richard_ , you need to form opinions of your own instead of just picking Bruce’s side. Don’t you know how to think for your fucking self?” the remaining ones cannot cease to gawk at Kyle in disbelief. He could not care less.

Then he starts to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?” Jason asks him when Dick and Bruce start to clash once again after the moment of bewilderment vanishes.

Kyle does not turn around. “I’m going after Terry,” and does not stay to hear a reply.


End file.
